Sunday, September 2, 2012

Copycat Blogger Exposed

Many of us bloggers put a lot of time and dedication into our blogs. I would go so far as to say we sometimes pour our hearts out online. I sometimes work on a particular post for many days, if not weeks at a time. I do research, I re-write stuff, check for spelling mistakes, I edit and upload pics. Maybe I'm a perfectionist and I could spend less time on here. But my motto is, if you're going to do something, then do it 100%.

I would say blogs are like gardens. Us bloggers need to start from scratch, we build the foundations, plant the seeds and wait for our work to grow. It takes time and effort. "verta, hikea ja kyyneleita" (blood, sweat and tears) as the Finnish saying goes. Like flowers need regular watering to strive, the blog needs constant up-keeping to flourish.

Taking material from another blog without permission is like sneaking into someone's garden and ripping the plants and flowers out, then giving them to someone or planting them in your own garden. Simply put, it's stealing of someone else's property.
When a blogger steals material from another blog, this naturally feels very upsetting, maddening and frustrating and like all our hard work is being exploited. It seems like some people just have no shame these days and this happens despite us having copyright notices on our blogs.

The reason I'm writing this entry is my random discovery today of a so called "copycat blogger" who I am going to expose because of the outragous plagiarism on her site. I randomly found her site by doing a google search. This is not just a case of a single copied post but the entire blog seems to be based on taking material from others. How can someone think they can get away with this in the first place? I'm upset on behalf of everyone she stole from.

According to her site and FB fan page she is a Muslim of South African origin who works as pharmacist at a large reputable hospital in Riyadh. She calls herself the "Desert Pill Pusher" but her name is Sumayya Mehtar, a self proclaimed philanthropist and public figure. Strange then that she needs to take most of her material from others.

Blue Abaya is not the only site that she has plagiarized from. American Bedu, Susie of Arabia, Rasheeds World, A Canadian in Riyadh, Saudi Jeans, from who she either directly copy pasted the articles off, or used material and altered the text a little. I don't get how this site has been running for over a year and nobody noticed this before. All those subscribers and fans on FB must not have a clue.

Some of the articles she stole from my blog just last month, like this post I wrote about Ramadan and the Hardees fungus burger incident: http://blueabaya.blogspot.com/2012/08/ramadan-junk-food-and-fungus-burgers.html
She divided this into two posts on her site, basically copy pasting the entire article, but "cleverly" changing the last part where I explain about emailing McDonald's, she writes "my friend emailed". How ingenious. And sorry but I am not your friend.
http://desertpillpusher.blogspot.com/2012/08/ardees-ramadaan-special-fungus-burger.html
http://desertpillpusher.blogspot.com/2012/08/ramadhaan-junk-food-and-obesity.html

Can you believe the audacity? The more I looked the more I found plagiarized content, it seemed endless. This really PISSED ME OFF. I posted comments on her blog and Facebook "fan page" exposing her plagiarism but she has deleted the comments and afterwards changed the title to "by Layla" like that makes any difference. Get real. No links, no mention of source and most importantly no asking permission, apologies or withdrawing the stolen content.

I also informed a few bloggers of the plagiarism and they and some friends posted on her Facebook page but all those comments were deleted as well. The plagiarized material still remains there though.

"The culture of visiting the sick in Saudi Arabia is very
much the same to what I have experienced in South Africa especially
amongst the South African muslim community. Muslim families in South
Africa are usually very close knit and hence when one family member is
admitted in hospital it is not unusual to see the whole family
gathering at the hospital including, uncle and aunts, cousins, nieces
and nephews and oh yes let us not forget the 45th cousins, neighbours
and the extended family as well. Many a times family members will bring
food for the patient and sometimes there would be extra food for all
the family members visiting the sick. There were times when I noticed
families ordering pizzas or machachos chicken that was delivered to the
hospital.

Now in Saudi Arabia
visiting the sick is a very important part of the culture simply
because it stems from the Islamic religion. A patient in a Saudi
hospital is rarely left alone. The patient will almost always have a
"miraafiq" or a "sitter" staying in the room with them. These sitters
are usually family members. They might be a son, a daughter, a mother
or father, grand daughter or grand son, aunt or uncle, brother or
sister. The most important thing is that the patient is never neglected
or left alone. The patient must always be look after by the family.The
family may also provide a paid sitter in addition to a family member.

For
many western nurses, this usually comes as a huge surprise, a positive
one of course!! In many western orientated countries, sadly patients
rarely have visitors. They may visit over the weekend only or may come
by during a holiday if the patient resides within an old age home. Many
a times the old and elderly are forgotten in these old age homes with
absolutely no relatives visiting them at all.

In
the Kingdom, it would be considered a great shame and a disgrace to
place one's parents in an old age home.Old age homes are non existent
here.There is no need for them as it is considered an honour to take
care of one's parents and have them reside within your own home.

The
sitters take care of all the basic needs of the patients. They will
help them eat, even feed them if they can not feed themselves. They will
assist in taking the patient to the toilet, bathing the patient and
very simply carrying out any task that the patient requires in order to
make the patient feel as comfortable as possible.I think this just
fantastic!!The families here are just so close knit and its amazing to
see just how dedicated they are to towards the wellbeing of the
patient.For example, I would bet you that no average western man would
"babysit" their very ill, possibly demented, bedridden mother.Would a
western man change her diapers, feed her, turn her in bed, rub her
feet, read her books or recite the Bible to her? The Saudi man on the
other hand would never say a bad word or get irritated if the mother is
demanding, forgetful or confused.

In
the Quraan, there are several verses stressing kindness towards
parents. Here is one of them..."be dutiful to your parents,if one of
them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a
word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of
honour. (Quran17.23). Do a google search on "kindness to parents" and
you will be amazed to find that the top 10 results are all from Islamic
websites.

And how about a
husbands dedication to his ill wife? They will go through anything to
please their wives.This also comes from Islam where the prophet
Muhammed (saw) mentioned "the best among you (men) are the ones who are
best in treatment towards their wives." The elderly patients will be
the most respected and they may have great great grand children visit
them.Children are much valued in Saudi culture and I've come across
parents with 17 children. Mind you in South Africa there are a few
families within our suburb that do have 12 and 15 children and a my
friend's dad came from a family of 21 kids...Yes folks.. 21 kids from
one mother.

A patient might
have many visitors all at once. Sometimes they would fill up the whole
room.They will bring tea or Qahwa (arabic coffee), chocolates, flowers,
cakes and pastries to offer the patient. Sometimes trolleys of cooked
food is wheeled into the patients room and the whole family will
partake of the food with the patient. Saudis are the most hospitable
nation I've ever met.They will always invite the medical staff to join
the family for a cup of qahwa or tea or to taste the food. They are
noted for giving generously even if they are poor they always want to
give you something. Often the visitiors will come in groups of either
men and women and they will visit the patient separately, although if
they are closely related they will go in together. Many a times the
family members will burn 3oud inside the room as a welcoming gesture to
the guests."

I am simply too shocked and disgusted to say anything to this. Actually in a way I also find this really pathetic and sad.

The most outrageous thing I noticed was a recent post by her called "My article in the newspaper" and a link to a South African newspaper which published her article titled: "The magical month in the Kingdom". This article has a part of it DIRECTLY copied from my post two years earlier titled, surprise surprise "The Magic Month In The Kingdom". "Her" article was published in Lenasia times: http://www.lenasia-times.co.za/editions/july2012/travel/1.html.
I have contacted this newspaper and informed them about the plagiarism.

So if you are a Saudi blogger I would suggest you check this pill pusher site out. Maybe she popped some of your work on there too. She says on her site "NO I'm not a terrorist." Well you certainly are a thief, and this is not the way to go about blogging. Respect other bloggers and their material, ask permission, link back, mention the source, don't take someone's hard work and use it as your own and expect to get away with it.

I remember as a kid complaining to my mother once about some girls who would copy everything I did. She said "don't mind them, they are just envious of you and want to be more like you. The more they copy you the more awesome you are in their eyes."

EDIT/UPDATESumayya Mehtar has removed some posts from her site which were directly copy-pasted from Blue Abaya. She however re-posted her plagiarized version of my "Visiting the Sick" article on her site, without asking permission. She only posted a link on the bottom. The audacity is mind-boggling to me.She did issue a public apology directed to me (but not any other blogger or journalist she stole from) on her FB page, claiming she did not know what she was doing was wrong. That is like saying, I went to the bookstore and took a book home to read without paying, I didn't know this was wrong. Nobody is that clueless or naive. I think she is just trying desperately to save her face. She has now added some links to the posts she stole trying to make it look like she had asked permission.Her claim that "someone had randomly emailed her the articles" which she then posted and altered (to sound like she wrote them) is equally ludicrous. Why in the world would someone do that, and even if they did (which she has FAILED to provide any proof of) it's still using someone else's material and trying to make it look like your own.The thing that makes this even more serious is that her site uses Google Adsense, which means she is profiting with the plagiarized content. She even directly informed me about the money coming in from adds, begging me to let her keep the articles so she doesn't loose money (which she claims to donate if someone wants to believe that). The Lenosia times have not contacted me back yet regarding the plagiarism. It has come to my attention that the ENTIRE article published on Lenosia times was copied from different bloggers and journalists. The others parts were from these sites:Susie of Arabia's post: http://susieofarabia.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/ramadan-tv-tash-ma-tash/Caryle Murphy of The National:http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/ramadan-in-saudi-arabia-is-a-different-experienceBassma Al Toaimi in Destination Jeddah:http://www.destinationjeddah.com/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1184%3Aramadan-saudi-style-the-month-of-cherished-traditions&catid=99%3Asettling-in&Itemid=485

I suggested to her she contact each and every one of the bloggers and journalists she stole from and apologize. Secondly for her to issue a public apology addressing everyone on the blog and Facebook page explaining what she has done. Then, remove all plagiarized content from the blog (would there be anything left?). Also contact Lenosia times herself and inform about the plagiarism.She has blocked several people including me from her Facebook page and deletes comments sent to her blog re plagiarism.And after all this, she still wishes we could be friends and share content and she has asked me to take this post down because it is bringing her shame. That is called KARMA coming right back at you.

That is terrible, but not surprising. You are a popular blogger with a lot of visitors, so she naturally assumed that copying your posts would get her traffic. I think you can copyright your material.

This happened to me with a so-called "journalist". I had written a blog post about an event I attended. A journalist was supposed to attend but wasn't able to. The director of the event directed them to my blog and suggested that the interview me so they could write the article. The journalist contacted me and asked if they could use material from my site. Before I gave permission, I read her article, which was MY post, copied word for word, and not even done well. I called her on it, corrected her copy, and gave myself the credit. I wasn't able to see if it was published. But it showed me that there are, sadly, people who lack integrity, and will copy the words of others for their own gain.

I'm not particularly a fan of yours. But at the same time, I don't wish bad for you. Wrong is wrong and I feel it should be addressed no matter who does it (to you or by you). I find this very dishonorable for someone to steal your content. Like you said, you put a lot of effort and research into you site and it shows. So for someone to come along and rumage through it, while taking what they want from it is totally disgusting (like the previous posted mentioned). So, I did a little research of my own to help out, while I'm sure you've beat me and most likely others to the punch. Check out the site, 5 Things you can do to protect your content and go from there. This has been an issue since the beginning of the printing press and will probably go on until the end of time.

Self proclaimed writer, public figure, and a plilanthropist.. on her fan page she works at a hospital in Riyadh on her profile page she works in Bahrian... She took down her fan page and most of the stolen articles from her blogpost, blocked me and others from her FB page...

I bet theres so many other examples of her.. lets protect our pics and writing material by using watermarks and copyrights..

Heres her Status Update posted September 3, 2012

By Sumayya Mehtar

"My sincerest apologies goes out to fellow blogger Layla.Over the past few months I have had articles sent to me randomly without the sources. In some of the articles I added my own additional info and then posted them. I honestly did not think that it would cause a problem or create an issue. I do apologise to Layla and I have now added her blog address to my blog...I did not wish in any way to pass off the articles as my own..I found them to be interesting articles so I simply posted them....."

I have been a silent reader of your blog for a while and I think you deserve and apology from this woman. It is rather disheartening to see that you put so much hard work and effort into compiling your blog posts for someone else to just come and pass the work off as theirs. And to even go as far as allowing for a newspaper to publish work, which was in part yours, is really just taking the cake. I think she should publish an apology on her blog letting her followers know what she has done.

Yes it's disgusting. I actually have copyrighted my material, the notice is on the ABOUT tab. Maybe I should move it to the sidebar. But that still doesn't guarantee 100% a person without any shame like her would come and take stuff from here.

My mentor used to say that in Saudi Arabia researchers (even the well-respected professors) used to copy material from published works because they said they were "borrowing the English". I wonder what her motive was, as I suppose language must not have been her problem.

Oops! Her article, " The magical month in the Kingdom", no longer exists on her blog. It says "Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist." We can be certain about one thing - she won't copy this post.

She has blocked me from her FB as well as many of the other bloggers she stole from.

Seriously, who sends out emails randomly to someone without sources, and who then goes and publishes them without any knowledge where they came from, on their blog?? She DID want to pass them as her own, why else change them to sound like she wrote them?

Hi Jah69 and thank you for commenting!She has apologized to me in email and on her FB page. I agree on the public apology on the blog and also including every single other blogger she stole from in that apology. I have suggested this to her, and also to remove all plagiarized content from the blog.

It is odd that she has apologized to you on facebook, yet she blocked you so you wouldn't see the apology... From reading both version of the articles, it is OBVIOUS that she intended to pass the material off as her own. She absolutely did not just post them, but instead changed them to seem as if she wrote them from her own perspective. May Allah guide her, as it seems that her intentions and actions were not pure or innocent. The saddest part is that she only apologized to you on her facebook page, possibly because you contacted her, yet she did not apologize or mention the other bloggers whose hard work and thoughts she plagiarized. Good for you Laylah for standing up and making sure that this unscrupulous behavior does not go unnoticed. I hope that the newspaper that published "her" work publishes an editors note stating that the work was yours, or at least not hers. MG

Some websites have a block on the copy+paste option, i.e. you cannot right click the text. Maybe you can find out what is this option and install it in your blog. Of course, someone could still copy it down word by word, but I think few of the potential thieves will do that, given they're lazy in the first place.

Good luck! I love your blog and always read it. Keep up the good work.

Thank you Zue! I used to have that option, it's called "disable right click". This has some benefit, but it also prevents people form opening many pages from my site or going to links!SO it's a double edged sword. There is a way to pass it too, so it's not bullet proof. I removed it when so many reader complained they couldn't open other pages and got frustrated when they couldn't copy paste links.

Hi there. It's always shocking and amazing to see the huevos people have. Every once in a while I google one of my blog or article titles, or a short paragraph and am usually stunned to find at least one or two people have just pulled it off the web and are using either in a blog, a website, or actually to sell some products! I write a lot about a particular kind of incense and found myself online shilling for two chinese companies! (Of course, they had just lifted text and photos and written some crap to go with it.)I have heard a couple of people tell me that they had hired a writer and that person stole my work, or something like what this woman says. I would think anyone would be ashamed to copy someone else's work, and pass it off as their own! What's the point? It just means you're a fake and a thief. Pathetic.I believe this woman has some kind of mental problem. Did she really think no one would discover this? Or is she basking in some imagined reflected glory? I imagine her life must be a pretty sad affair. I know it's shocking and amazing and feels like a violation. But at least you found out and now she's removed some posts. Just imagine being her!

I have sat here and read your posts for hours and I've visited Under the Abaya website. You all have given me so much insight into the life in Saudi... Things that I have never imagined. I am due to go to Saudi Arabia to live with my husband in Riyadh, according to him in few months (it has already been two).... I am pretty scared but also exited and I have no idea how my life is going to be like there.

I am not sure if you noticed but she also posted a story about plagiarism, and she apologizes to all of the people she stole from. It seems that she is unwilling to take responsibility and instead blames it on a professor for misinforming her. It is pretty ridiculous to think that someone with a university education does not know that you can't copy someone's work word by word and add an opinion. It really sounds that she is in it for the money, and is not genuinely apologetic. In her blog she failed to mention that she was published using other's work!! You should report her to Google Adsense. The audacity that she is willing to ask you to allow her to keep your work for the money. If it really was about donating to the needy, she would have integrity and move forward with her own articles. May Allah guide her. Keep at it. Do not let anyone take credit for your hard work and effort, especially to support their greed. YOu are a great example!

You can actually report the copyright to google. If you go to her blog, on the top left corner you will see something that say "more." If you select that button, at the bottom you will see the option "Report abuse." Copyright is a reason to report abuse. I think it would be a good idea to report it. She has failed to remove the article that was published in the newspaper, that included your work. Best of luck!

Yes I noticed, she is excusing herself of any responsibility and claiming innocence, also trying to make me sound like a bad person for warning others about her.I have been nothing but cordial with her.

her so-called-blog should be taken down and she should pay a compensation to every single author she plagiarized, also, she should release a public apologise to all the bloggers she stole from, and all the readers she fooled.

It's funny how when i confronted her at her blog she decided to delete my last comment since I totally cornered her, lol! this person is just not in her right mind! the biggest sign of that is that she didn't delete the blog even after a lot of people told her to just do it and move on... it really shows that she has some sort of sick attachment to her crimes...

hi layla. first time here from bedu's. Not last though. Nice blog u got. what copycat mehta did was wrong. emailed her for explanation. i bet she wont bother to reply.keep on with the good work.from muktar

Oh my goodness what in the world is wrong with people? I had a girl who I am actually friends with online copy things from my blog and re-post them as if she wrote them and I asked her to take them down. I was shocked and she as well acted like she had no idea it was bad. Ugh get your own ideas like you said its takes A LOT of time to make these post. I went to that blog but its down I guess shes embarrassed she got caught (good).

hello again Layla. Its muktar again. Here is a little up date on the plagiarism issue. I emailed mehta and was surprized that she actually replied.Take a look below:

Salaam,

I am just coming from the Amerianbedu blog where i read some comments about your blog. Tell me its not true. The plagiarism allegation that is. I enjoy the pictures you post and some of the stories are really interesting. Am part of your global readership. Kindly clarify the issue once and for all.

Thanks

Aslm,

Thank you for your email. I must admit to you Dr. that I have taken articles from the net and simply copy pasted on my blog. I was oblivious to copyright and infringement laws. I have made a grave error.hence I have written an apology letter on my blog.I have removed the offending articles and hence whats left on the blog is mine. To be honest I only started blogging a year ago. I started off inexperienced without knowing how to use a blog. I guess life is a learning curve and we all learn from our mistakes......May Allah be with you ....Slmz

Hi Laylah, I can understand your annoyance at something like this. It really is very shallow of her to do such a thing. Glad she's removed the blog but then she had to after being outed. I would be really annoyed and quite astounded if someone stole my personal stories and try to fob the off as their own. Well you know what they say - Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Still annoying though. Keep up the great work. Kim

I have to say - I do find the disabled right click very annoying. I prefer to open links to new tabs and then finish reading the same page rather than open everything on the same page. Plus, the right click function is only blocked once, it is easy to copy and paste by clicking a second time.

Technical solutions will only take you so far. By putting your work out there, you have already tacitly agreed to expose it to the risk of criticism, outrage and yes, plagiarism. If you disable copy-paste, nothing stops a plagiarist from just typing out word for word what you said - and worse, paraphrasing to her own words. Still a lie, but cleverer than just pasting. Have faith in the online community to stand against such cases of plagiarism! And that your blog has built up a strong and credible reputation through your own work such that these sad cases of copying - though terrible - will not do you any major damage.

Hello Young Lady,I discovered your blog, when I was visiting our son in Bahrein in March 2011.I find it very interesting and thank you very much for giving us another picture of that country. Please carry on with it..Cheer it up and have a good life.Some bubbles of love from FranceCath

I've noticed that you surely use a LOT of time and work hard to create your posts. Your blog is so informative and rich, showing KSA from a different and thus interesting perspective. And the photos make it feel just like a free holiday in a country where I've never visited.

That's why it's really sad to hear that someone has been distasteful enough to plagiarize your posts. And not only yours but also many others... And furthermore, she even dares to ask you not to demand her to delete the plagiarized posts so that she wouldn't lose the money she is getting... from something that she has stolen from other writers! Plagiarizing is everywhere, unfortunately, but this is really unprecedented for me. I also can't understand how she could ever think she'd get away with this. As you wrote, it's surprising that nobody noticed this before.

Anyway, keep up the good work, Laylah! The fact that someone plagiarizes you only proves that your blog is very good. ;)

I'm really frustrated to find five of my posts were copied and pasted in one blog. It is extremely frustrating! We spend our valuable time to write something and these unscrupulous people easily steal it from us. Don't they feel ashamed with what they're doing? Is there a way to report this? I found your blog while searching for this. The copycat was last active in 2010 and I'm not sure if I would be able to contact here through her email.

I have just googled her to find that it no longer exists. Good work on your part!!! I have been reading (read: absorbing) your blog as well as American Bedu as I contemplate a move to KSA. You should fight to keep the integrity of your work. My husband is also a blogger/ writer and I am sure if this happened to him as blatantly as this girl has done, then he would be just as upset.